Irish Time

Friday, December 28, 2012

SS MI5 BRITISH OCCUPIED IRELAND

SS is short for the German Schutzstaffeln, an organization, of which the Gestapo was just a branch, serving the tyranny of Nazi bureaucracy and the politics of terror, like MI5 currently in British Occupied Ireland and all of the island. The British Government use MI5 today, like Germans in high places, still use the SS, as an excuse for acts of murder, extortion and genocide, that were facts of daily life under the Nazis and are standard fare since the outset of the present troubles in British Occupied Ireland. MI5 like the SS are embedded in every basic governmental part of the Occupation of Ireland and indeed most institutions of note on the island. While not all of its members are not so much lunatic killers, as loyal British subjects, doing the bidding of a secret state of British intelligence, that has gone insanely rogue and unaccountable. The case of the politically interned Marian Price is but another example.

Outside her internment, the life of Marian Price has been destroyed by the “grossly reckless” conduct of Britain's secret service MI5 terrorists. Marian is a victim of “targeted malice” of a prejudged faceless secret service of secret judges, secret jury and secret executioners. MI5 and the British secret state has manifested a perverse calculated effort of secret political internment, to give effect to their prejudgment, that secret evidence, with the vested interest of highly paid secret informers, to the British secret services. The malfeasance of British bigoted, sectarian public office of British institutions involved in cases such as the Guilford Four, the Birmingham Six are infamous and par to the same form of injustice that fuels the ongoing conflict.

The consequence of destroying irreparably the lives of Irish women and their families is a prime cause of the ongoing troubles. In the case of Marian Price six months of force feeding, a year of psychological torture in solitary confinement, combined with her second Christmas politically interned without a transparent trial that is calculated to destroy her physically and mentally.The British having accepted the allegations from the outset and have at every step sheltered the allegations from appropriate public scrutiny, thereby ensuring that Marian Price would suffer the maximum painful agony in her confined condition.The political internment of Marian Price has been conducted in a manner calculated to ensure a predetermined conclusion not to be deflected or disturbed by any meaningful input by Marian Price or her defence lawyers.

Besides the psychological torture endured by Marian, her indefinite internment, coupled with seriously painful physical condition as a result of her treatment at the hands of the British, Marian has endured extraordinarily high levels of stress and great mental anguish suffered in isolation. The reality of the abuse of British Occupation behind the cloak of secrecy provided by the Official Secrets Act, the secret services, secret evidence, secret witness, secret courts, secret allegations and secrecy provisions governing matters concerned with the secret Nazi regime running British Occupied Ireland, is that there is absolutely no accountability.The fact is, that this bizarre form of political interment and conduct detailed again below, evinces the unjust reality of life in British Occupied Ireland. The fact that it has dragged on so long, is confirmation of the abdication of judicial, journalistic and political responsibilities, that are basic to any form of a civilized state with even a modicum of democracy.

Where to begin describing the secret reality behind the cloak and dagger operations of Britain's spooky secret state?. How to lift the fog of secrecy, complacency, that has been allowed to congregate around the public’s understanding of British Secret State Terrorism? "Targeted assassination", "Political Internment", “Malfeasance”, “targeted infiltrated media malice”, “unaccountability”, "war crimes", "human rights abuse", these are but a few of the terms that encapsulate what I am trying to explain. These phrases refer to the oppression of one Irish citizen (British commoner) by an agency representing the British Police State of Occupation, paid for by British taxpayers. The perpetrators in these crimes against Marian, will likely never face a court of law, will probably never be photographed, as they hide in secrecy, unaccountable from the public gaze. They will never have their names in the media but rather these state terrorists, will continue in their positions, unfazed to murder and intern without trial human rights lawyers, journalists and prisoner rights activists such as Marian Price was before her internment.

The facts are that Marian Price is just one, of several Irish people currently secretly politically interned in British Occupied Ireland, during which time lawyers have not been allowed to see any of Britain's ‘alleged’ evidence.

• She has been kept in solitary confinement in a ‘male’ high security prison
• She is effectively interned without a trial, sentence, or release date.
• She has not been given any timescale for any investigation.
• She has not been allowed to see the evidence that the state claims to have
• Her release has been ordered on two occasions by judges. However, on both occasions the British Vice royal has overruled those decisions.
• The Vice royal claims they ‘revoked Marian’s license, ’despite Marian never being released on license. She was given a Royal Pardon.
• Marian’s Royal Pardon has ‘gone missing’ from the home office (the only time in history). The British Vice royal has taken the view that unless a paper copy can be located – it must be assumed that she does not have one. It is generally agreed that MI5 shredded her majesty's pardon.
• Despite no ‘license’ existing for her release from prison in 1980, it is the non-existent licence that is being used to keep her in prison.
• She can only be released by Theresa Villiers the current Vice royal responsible for Marian's internment.

The charges against Marian were thrown out of court because of a lack of evidence. Now the very same charges have been re-instated against Marian again before the same Judge.

In secret courts, being introduced by the back door, through legislation in the House of Lords, MI5 the British secret services are pushing for secret trials, with secret evidence by secret witnesses, that the defendant's appointed lawyer is not allowed to access, see or refute. The length of sentence is also kept secret, under penalty of a long jail sentence by Britain's Official Secret's Act. This trial of Marian Price is believed to have already occurred in secret, with the public hearings and a show trial being simply a public rubber stamp on more injustice against Marian Price in of British Occupied Ireland.

Another Shot Dead in Kitsonian Feud in Dublin

Gardai don’t know where the shooting took place but find the car that brought the victim to St James’s in Dublin.

Image: Photocall Ireland

A 35-YEAR-OLD man died last night after he was brought to a Dublin city hospital. The man was left at St James’s Hospital, with gunshot wounds, at 7 pm. He was pronounced dead at the hospital.

Gardai are investigating where the shooting took place as the location is not known. The car used to carry the man to hospital was later found on Cork Street in Dublin and the area around it for technical examination.

Official records have revealed that the British government had a plan to 'brainwash' Long Kesh hunger strikers to end their protest individually.

Previously classified papers also reveal that the Conservative government of the 1980s considered a proposal from an influential backbencher to put the prisoners on a prison ship during the height of the hunger strikes -- and as they died, dispose of their bodies at sea.

Ten republican prisoners, including Bobby Sands, died in their 1981 campaign against the criminalisation of the republican armed struggle.

Official records have now revealed that the British government sought to use psychological strategies on prisoners to abandon their protest as they lay starving to death in the prison hospital.

British officials hoped that by engineering a "capitulation" by one or more prisoners, the hunger strike would be thrown into disarray. They claimed that even if the plan later became public knowledge, it would be defensible because it would be seen to have prevented "pointless" deaths.

In a memo circulated to colleagues on 1 June, 1981, senior Northern Ireland Office official R A Harrington recalled that SDLP MP John Hume had described the parents of Derry hunger striker, Kevin Lynch as "typical decent anti-IRA people" who would "do almost anything" to prevent their son's death.

Harrington said that in his view, "capitulation (i.e. a decision to take food) by one of the hunger strikers would be of enormous value to us, not just in itself but because of the great disarray into which the PIRA propaganda effort would be thrown".

It might be possible, he argued, to engage the Catholic Church, "possibly with the help of Bishop Philbin", to bring further pressure to bear on the prisoner and his family.

Another official said the "only obvious candidate for the brain washing would be assistant governor McCartney who visits the hospital regularly in the normal course of events," he said.

But there was a concern that the rapidly failing health of the hunger strikers made it difficult to implement the strategy.

One memo asked: "Is there any possibility of using all the resources available to us to identify the best candidate for capitulation and then go to some lengths to organise pressure on them over the next number of weeks before his condition becomes critical?"

There were also proposals to feed the prisoners intravenously, which raised concerns because it would require drugging the prisoners.

The protest ultimately ended on 3 October, 1981 after the families of some of the prisoners were allegedly encouraged by the prison chaplain to intervene to save the lives of their loved ones as they neared death.

'ADJUSTMENTS' POSSIBLE

Another significant note confirms the British government was prepared to make the key concession of allowing the prisoners to wear their own clothing if the hunger strike was brought to an end.

While the Thatcher administration's public stance at the time was defiance of the prisoners' five demands and a refusal to negotiate, one note form June 1981 indicated possible "adjustments" to the H-Block regime.

"If the hunger strikes ended the government would be prepared to consider adjustments to the prison regime but the government would need strong evidence that the strike had ended before it could contemplate any adjustments," the NIO (Northern Ireland Office) document said.

"The adjustments involved would include freedom for the prisoners to wear their own clothIng and perhaps other moves."

'HMS MAZE'

The papers, released under the 30-year-rule, also show that the British government considered a bizarre suggestion to tip the bodies of Irish hunger strikers into the sea from a prison ship. The plan was mooted by former Home Secretary David Waddington before he was promoted to Margaret Thatcher's cabinet.

"The boat could cruise for long periods of time, calling at various ports around Britain for supplies and a change of staff and could anchor for long periods off-shore," he said. "Any of the terrorists who passed away could be buried at sea, removing the publicity which these people appear to seek."

His suggestion was ultimately rejected -- but only on cost grounds.

Prisons minister Michael Alison said the ship would cost more to run, need more staff and be less secure. He concluded the measure could only be justified as a temporary expedient in an emergency and was not a long-term solution.

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>>>>>> Corey's bail order overturned

British Direct Ruler Theresa Villiers has won a legal bid to continue the internment of veteran republican Martin Corey.

Senior judges upheld a challenge brought by the state to a ruling that Martin Corey's human rights had been breached in keeping him behind bars.

It means the 65-year-old will remain in jail, at least until separate proceedings go before the Supreme Court in London.

Mr Corey, from Lurgan, County Armagh, was interned in April 2010 when former British Direct Ruler Shaun Woodward ordered his "recall" to prison on the basis of "closed material" and unspecified allegations of involvement with "dissidents".

In July this year, he won a judicial review over a Parole Commissioners decision to keep him behind bars and was ordered released on bail. A High Court judge held that their determination on whether it was safe to release him had breached his rights under European law. He found that the open evidence did not advance the British case against Corey, meaning that the decision was solely based on "closed" or "secret" evidence.

Amid a legal scramble, pending a full appeal against the judgment, lawyers for the British government successfully applied for a stay on the bail order. They argued that the High Court has no jurisdiction to grant bail in judicial review proceedings. Corey's legal team are currently seeking to challenge that determination at the Supreme Court.

Meanwhile, the appeal against the judicial review ruling was heard by three senior judges. It was argued that there was enough open material to allow Corey the chance to present a defence.

The Court of Appeal had to decide whether the process undertaken by the panel, involving a "gist" of the information, was flawed. Judges carried out the assessment without access to the alleged secret material.

Delivering judgment on Friday, Justice Morgan said there were "specific" allegations in regard to conversations Mr Corey had taken part in.

"We cannot infer that the disclosure was inadequate," he said. "A denial by the detainee that a meeting occurred or that a topic was discussed addresses a specific allegation and is quite different from the denial of a general allegation such as membership of an organisation."

"Today's decision to continue the detention of Martin Corey needs to be challenged," he said.

"The British Secretary of State cannot be allowed to continue the internment of Martin Corey on unseen evidence.

"Either the PSNI bring charges against Martin Corey that will allow him the opportunity to defend himself in a court of law or they should release him immediately."

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>>>>>> PSNI target Christmas celebrations

A County Derry Sinn Fein councillor has accused the PSNI police of harassment after his brother's house was raided on Christmas Eve, while the family of an eirigi activist were kept apart for the holiday by bizarre bail demands.

Former mayor of Limavady, Sean McGlinchey hit out after his brother Paul's home, which is near Toomebridge in County Antrim, was sealed off for several hours on Monday as the property was raided.

Another house and a farmyard in nearby Portglenone were also sealed off and searched. The men are brothers of murdered INLA chief Dominic McGlinchey and Paul is a former member of Sinn Fein who left the party in 2006 over its stance on policing.

Paul McGlinchey's wife Cindy was treated in hospital after being injured during the raid. She was pinned to the wall and had her left arm, which was removed from plaster last week after she was injured by a horse, forcibly dragged up behind her back. "At no time did they tell me they had a warrant," she said.

Former republican prisoner Paul McGlinchey said two of his daughters who were in the house were left "traumatised" by the incident. "It destroyed Christmas for everyone," he said.

His brother said he would raise questions about Monday's raid with the PSNI.

"This was a disgrace on Christmas Eve," he said. "Especially when you consider this warrant was signed on December 18 and the search could have been carried out any time.

"I am a member of Sinn Fein and I support the position on talking to the police but this is harassment of people on Christmas Eve."

The Sinn Fein councillor, who was influential in encouraging republicans in County Derry to support the party's policing policy, said the incident would have an impact on "public confidence".

"How are you ever going to build public confidence in the police after things like this?" he said. "This sets things back. Me and other members of my family are disgusted."

VINDICTIVE BAIL CONDITIONS REJECTED

Meanwhile, a member of eirigi has spent Christmas behind bars after refusing to accept punitive PSNI bail conditions imposed upon him at a court hearing in Belfast High Court last week.

Newry man Stephen Murney is currently being held in Maghaberry prison since being arrested and imprisoned three weeks ago. The socialist republican is strenuously contesting the charges against him, centred on allegations that he had photographs of police members on his computer amounting to "terrorist" information.

His lawyers sought to have him released on bail. The presiding judge agreed to his release on bail but, at the behest of the PSNI, then agreed to impose a wide series of very stringent conditions upon him. Following a consultation with his lawyers, Mr Murney indicated that these conditions were totally unacceptable.

In a statement, Eirigi General Secretary Breandan Mac Cionnaith said: "Today's bail hearing again demonstrated the very flimsy and nebulous nature of the charges on which Stephen Murney is being held. I had an opportunity to speak with Stephen this afternoon after he had been visited by his mother, his wife and his young son.

"Stephen is married with a young son. The extreme conditions which the court sought to impose upon him included not being permitted to live in his own home with his own family. Among the many other conditions were stipulations that he could not live in, or enter Newry at any time; had to live several miles away from his wife and young son; report daily to a PSNI barracks in Newtownhamilton; live under a strict curfew and wear an electronic tagging device.

"Stephen said that these conditions meant that he would have only the most minimal contact with his wife and young son and that forcing him to live elsewhere was solely designed to penalise his family.

"Stephen also said that as he is totally innocent of the charges laid against him. He is not prepared to permit either himself or his family to be humiliated by the courts or the PSNI. Neither is he prepared to be branded as a criminal by wearing an electronic tagging device.

"This is a very principled position which Stephen has taken. It is also a very difficult one, particularly at this time of the year, as Christmas is a time when families should be together and not be kept apart as a result of draconian measures imposed by courts in response to demands by the PSNI.

"The charges against Stephen are directly related to him taking photographs of PSNI harassment at a protest in Newry and having three uniforms belonging to a band. We have no doubt that the PSNI case against Stephen will eventually collapse and be completely exposed as a totally vindictive, fabricated and unjust action."

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>>>>>> Flags issue tension dissipates

Protests by loyalists and hardline unionists on the issue of flying the British flag at Belfast City Hall have sharply decreased in size and number.

Just 70 protesters gathered for a flag demonstration on Saturday, and only 20 turning up for a city centre protest on Thursday. Previous city centre demonstrations had seen crowds of up to 1,000 force the closure of the continental market and cause massive disruption to shoppers and traders.

The protests are an attempt to force a u-turn by Belfast city councillors after they voted to reduce the number of days on which the Union Jack flies over Belfast City Hall.

Earlier this month, it was decided to fly the British flag on 17 designated days, in line with most other civic buildings.

The reduced pickets follow weeks of traffic chaos in Belfast and other locations as the PSNI police declined to prevent loyalists from blocking main roads and engaging in disturbances. Mob violence and riots also broke out at several such events.

Last Friday, on one of the busiest shopping days of the year, loyalist roadblocks again caused huge disruption to commuters and shoppers. Dozens of protests were held across greater Belfast, and although they were much smaller than previously, they remained effective in causing disruption.

There were also fresh clashes in the lower Newtownards Road area of east Belfast later as petrol bombs and other missiles were thrown at police. Further protests were also held in other towns around the north.

But this week, protestors were outnumbered by tourists and onlookers, and politicians said things had moved on.

One long-serving SDLP councillor, Pat McCarthy, said attempts to intimidate councillors into reversing their decision had failed.

"They can do what they want but the democratic vote has been taken and it is for designated days," he said.

"I stood and watched them and ordinary people were standing there and watching them as well and laughing at them."

A recent vote by Newry council to name a small local park after former hunger striker Raymond McCreesh has also infuriated unionists.

DUP councillor Ruth Patterson, who took part in one protest, claimed there was a Sinn Fein plot to undermine unionism by "dilution".

"The stripping and chipping away of items from within city hall that are British, military or loyal is an antagonising ploy by Sinn Fein to rub salt into an already seeping wound," she wrote.

Among the other blows she listed were changes to the murderous B Specials, UDR and RUC and restrictions on loyal order marches.

"In relation to city hall she is wrong. There is no erosion and there has not been any erosion," he said.

"Anybody who walks around Belfast City Hall will see there has been no erosion of British, unionist or military symbols.

"As for the B Specials and the UDR, they are both discredited sectarian gangs."

Mr O Donnghaile urged his unionist counterpart to show "leadership" to those who elected her.

"This is about equality and nobody, including Ruth Patterson, should fear equality," he said.

"If unionists and loyalists have had poor leadership, she is an elected representative so she should show some leadership.

"Belfast is not a city of the UDR or the B Specials or one-party rule. It's a city for all and there is a place for us all in this city."

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>>>>>> Coalition targets internet critics

The 26-County government has been accused of planning to introduce censorship and free speech 'chilling' measures following the tragic death last week of Fine Gael's junior minister at the Department of Agriculture, Shane McEntee.

It is believed that Mr McEntee came under heavy criticism in the aftermath of last month's unprecedented austerity budget announcement, and that this may have contributed to his shock suicide near his home in County Meath.

The current government has recently tapped into a wellspring of public anger not seen since the collapse of the previous Fianna Fail/Green Party government, when ministers were routinely spat upon and shouted at by members of the public. Fine Gael and Labour politicians have been excoriated for their austerity attacks on Ireland's poorest while preserving their own salaries, expenses and pensions, which are among the highest in Europe.

At one time Mr McEntee enjoyed strong personal popularity in his Meath East constituency. But a tsunami of anger over government cutbacks were fuelled by comments he made on highly controversial cuts to respite care services.

In December's announcements of the state's fiscal plans for next year, it was revealed that the annual grant to those receiving respite care -- state assistance for those caring for terminally ill family members -- would be cut by 300 euro to 1,375 euro.

Mr McEntee told a newspaper interviewer that: "You could stay in a top hotel for [euro]700 a week," adding: "People just have to get on with it."

His remark fuelled a torrent of personal abuse, while Fianna Fail described it as "callous and crass".

At his funeral, there were suggestions that the trenchant criticism, as well as condemnation of his department's failure to tackle a disease killing Irish Ash trees, came as a grave psychological blow.

Speaking at the funeral, Gerry McEntee particularly pointed the figure at internet commentators.

"Shame on you people who made comments online -- I hope you are not proud of what you have achieved," he said.

Former Taoiseach John Bruton, a friend of Mr McEntee, called for an end to the practice of text messages being read out on TV and radio without those who sent them in being publicly identified. Another government figure, Transport Minister Leo Varadkar, told state-run radio this week that his government wants to "control the internet".

The various statements have been viewed with concern by free speech activists, who compared the proposals to moves recently announced by the Chinese government to declare certain blogs "illegal".

Green Party TD Dan Boyle said he couldn't take Fine Gael suggestions on anonymous comments seriously, as Fine Gael had long encouraged party members to contact radio stations with pro-government comments.

"Fine Gael has long run campaigns of 'ordinary' people texting," he said.

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>>>>>> Arson attack on Catholic church

A Catholic priest has urged those responsible for a suspected sectarian arson attack on his County Antrim church to leave their Catholic neighbours in peace.

Fr Anthony Curran said he believed the attack, which caused thousands of pounds of damage to Our Lady of Lourdes Church at Whitehead, was connected to the ongoing loyalist protests over the removal of the Union flag from Belfast City Hall.

Significant damage was caused to a boiler room in yesterday's attack.

It is understood that a claw hammer was used to smash into the building at around 3.40am.

The blaze destroyed a heating boiler and badly damaged electrical wiring and although it had not spread into the church by the time fire fighters arrived, there was some smoke damage.

A number of large statues and religious artefacts which were being stored in the boiler room were destroyed.

Sunday Mass and Christmas Mass had to be celebrated in the nearby parish hall.

Asked if he believed the attack was connected to protects linked to the removal of the Union flag from Belfast City Hall Parish Fr Curran said: "I presume it would be a fair judgment to make. We can't say [for sure]. It would seem to be.

"We are always a bit apprehensive when things get tense like this over the past couple of weeks."

Fr Curran said parishioners were shocked by the fire.

"I feel sorry for the elderly pensioners. They were distressed," he said.

"The church has been there for 100 years and many of these people have lived here for many years. It's very precious to them.

"It's at the heart of the community and in the last year their school has been closed so it is even more special to them.

"These people are very generous in their attitudes towards other people.

"When it comes to the Saint Vincent de Paul they are very generous and items would be given to both Protestant and Catholic people."

Fr Curran urged those behind the attacks to leave their Catholic neighbours in peace.

"It's very hard to fathom the minds of people who would do that," he said.

"I would say to them we are not your enemies.

"Whatever grievances you have they can't be resolved by attacking your Catholic neighbours.

"We as a parish community feel strongly about the community and inter-Church relations and we are anxious to maintain that."

East Antrim Sinn Fein assembly member Oliver McMullan offered his sympathies to those affected by the fire.

"I though the days of burning down and destroying places of worship had gone and now we are back to this again," he said.

Alliance East Antrim Assembly member Stewart Dickson, whose constituency office in Carrickfergus was ransacked and torched by a loyalist mob earlier this month, also condemned the arson attack.

"There can never be any justification for an attack on a place of worship," he said.

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>>>>>> Feature: The 1982 papers

--------------------------------------------------------------------- A look at some of the other stories which emerged from initial reviews of the archived classified papers, partially declassified in Dublin, Belfast and London this week under the '30 years rule'. ---------------------------------------------------------------------

The 1982 papers released from Whitehall this week on Anglo-Irish relations are punctuated with sharp rebukes by Margaret Thatcher to her own civil servants.

"No!" she would mark in the margins of various talks and peace proposals. Her advice to her own officials was to keep correspondence with Dublin "long, worthy, meaty and dull", with the unstated intention of doing nothing.

The Irish papers also reveal that the 1983 'New Ireland Forum' was originally planned as a cover for what Dublin officials admitted was "a mark-time period, in respect of dealings with the British". Its main function was to boost the moderate nationalist SDLP following a surge in support for Sinn Fein in the aftermath of the 1981 hunger strike.

The Forum's report, published on 2 May 1984, listed three possible alternative structures: a unitary state, a federal/confederal state, and joint British/Irish authority. The British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, dismissed the three alternatives one by one at a press conference, each time saying, "that is out", in a response that became known as the "out, out, out" speech.

But amid the stalemate on the North in 1982, the papers show that worst spat between the Dublin and London governments came when former 26-County Taoiseach Charles Haughey refused to support Britain's efforts to reoccupy Argentina's Malvinas islands. He had described the Falklands conflict as "a ridiculous war, a war that should not have happened".

Tensions between the two governments worsened following the Belgrano massacre, when an Argentinian ship was ordered sunk by Margaret Thatcher in neutral, international waters, with the loss of over 600 lives.

Thatcher, infuriated by Haughey's lack of support for sanctions against Argentina, asked her home secretary William Whitelaw to explore new laws to disenfranchise Irish citizens living in Britain and the north of Ireland.

The move, which would have left up to half a million Irish without a vote, was ultimately abandoned.

* US Senator Ted Kennedy tried to intervene with the British government's handling of the crisis at doomed car manufacturer deLorean.

The ill-fated car plant in Belfast, built with millions of pounds of funding from the British exchequer, closed in 1982 after the company went into liquidation and following the arrest of its founder John de Lorean on drug trafficking charges.

De Lorean blamed the Northern Ireland Development Agency (NIDA), which had offered 100 million pounds to set up the factory, for many of the problems.

However, Mr de Lorean had some influential friends in American politics. A British official said he had been contacted by the Irish Embassy which told him "that the Irish had been approached by Senator Edward Kennedy about de Lorean" so as to "bring pressure to bear on HMG (Her Majesty'sGovernment)" to inject further financial support into the company".

The memo reveals that on this occasion, his interest was not welcomed. "The Irish (I assume their Embassy in Washington) had warned Senator Kennedy that it would not be appropriate to intervene and had pointed out that the situation was a good deal more complex than it might appear," it read.

Later, an NIDA appointee to the DMC board in New York described Mr de Lorean as being "in a disturbed state and possibly not wholly rational".

Reporting from a meeting of the board to discuss the future of the company, he said it was "a shambles", "a fantasy" and "an orchestrated pantomime" with "a good deal of abuse from Mr de Lorean".

* Confusion and embarrassment reigned when the late president Patrick Hillery, acting on government and official advice, gave two contradictory responses to the birth on June 21st, 1982 of Prince William to the Prince and Princess of Wales.

The recommendation from the Department of Foreign Affairs was that the president should not send congratulations, since Prince Charles was not a head of state, but this was countermanded within hours by a government decision.

* The British embassy in Washington claimed that republican veteran Dessie Ellis, who was arrested in the US in 1981, was "linked by forensic evidence to some 50 murders". Mr Ellis was extradited in 1983, and sentenced in Dublin for the explosives offences. He went on hunger strike for 37 days in 1990 while facing extradition to Britain. He was ultimately acquitted in London, and is now the serving Sinn Fein TD for Dublin North-West.

A Sinn Fein spokesman today said Dessie Ellis rejected the claims. "Irish Republicans do not attach any value to claims made in secret documents emanating from the British secret services, who were responsible for countless murders in Ireland during the course of the conflict," he said.

* Hundreds of files were again withheld in the annual release of government papers this year, most noticeably in relation to British accounts of the 1981 hunger strike. In many cases, papers were partially blacked out or censored in order to protect identities and/or British interests.

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>>>>>> Analysis: Calls for full dialogue falling on deaf ears

By Brian Feeney (for Irish News)

It's been the dialogue of the deaf this year again. Remember after their election triumph in 2011 the first minister and deputy first minister admitted they had failed to deliver in the 2007 to 2011 assembly? They promised this assembly session they would deliver. They haven't and all the evidence suggests 2013 won't be any different.

The assembly managed to pass a mere five pieces of legislation this year, none of them important. On the other hand everything important has stalled. The DUP has blocked every single proposal for change. So, the Education and Skills Authority, which should have been up and running in 2008 is stuck and unlikely to meet its latest target date of next April. No progress on the 11-plus fiasco. No progress on parades, promised as part of the Hillsborough deal in 2010. No policy paper on Cohesion, Sharing and Integration, which Peter Robinson claimed would be out before Christmas. He got the wrong Christmas obviously.

The decade of centenaries -- a shared history, remember that? -- got off to a great start with a massive sectarian parade through Belfast to Stormont to commemorate the 1912 Covenant. If you read any of the speeches from 1912 you can see nothing has changed in unionism, for the speeches at Stormont and in unionist councils were exactly the same this year. All around the north the great and the good were engaged in cross-community debates, symposiums, presentations but the leaders of unionism sank back into tribalism. The Irish government appointed a committee to manage the various commemorations due over the next 10 years. No wonder they've gone very quiet in the past six months.

With the centenary of the founding of the Ulster Volunteers and the Irish Volunteers coming up next year there's not much chance of cross-community action if this year's covenant events are the model. Curiously enough the centenary of the UVF is January 13 2013 and lo and behold, a century after the treasonous force was formed to defy the democratic decision of the Westminster parliament here is unionism again trying to subvert democracy by violence and the threat of violence.

The refusal of unionist leaders to condemn unequivocally the intimidatory road blocks that ruined Christmas trading and spoiled so many people's enjoyment of the beginning of the holiday period is scandalous. Equally deplorable is for unionist leaders to take up and legitimise the undemocratic demands of the flag-waving rabble and present them at talks with other parties. Their retreat into tribalism is complete with the establishment of their so-called Unionist Forum instead of seeking an accommodation across the divide as Martin McGuinness offered.

None of it bodes well for Sinn Fein's reconciliation project inaugurated last Easter by Declan Kearney. Kearney's overtures were instantly rejected by all shades of unionism. A carefully worked speech he made at Westminster in October was greeted with alarm bordering on hysteria by unionists. Yet Kearney was speaking for Sinn Fein, the DUP's partner in the north's administration. Clearly unionists do not want to talk about the future about which it seems they are increasingly fearful. They lacked the confidence to respond to a single item of substance in Kearney's speech. They rejected the opportunity to move forward by negotiation. Who are they to make progress with except Sinn Fein?

Turning inward into their 'forum' will achieve nothing, You probably don't know this and there's no reason you should but Robinson came up with exactly the same wheeze in 2008, a unionist think-tank called the 'Unionist Academy' and a 'cultural fightback'. It never got off the ground. Even if it had, like the present attempt at unionist unity, it could take no decisions without Sinn Fein and sitting having substantive discussions with Sinn Fein is the only way forward.

That has never happened without pressure from the British and Irish governments who have remained completely disengaged in the present crisis.

Sinn Fein has taken the initiative by proposing a way to look at the future. Unionists aren't listening. There are none so deaf as those who will not hear. It's coming to the time when the two governments are also going to have to live up to their responsibilities.